In the present work, ethanol electro-oxidation reaction on Pt electrode has been studied in details by measuring and analyzing the cyclic voltammetries (CV), the dependence of the electrochemical impedance spectroscopies (EIS) on the applied potentials and the galvanostatic potential oscillation. The CV measurement has exhibited a bistable characteristic. The origin of all the oxidation and reduction peaks has been analyzed. The origin of the bistable characteristic has also been studied by measuring the EIS at different potentials. In addition, the dependence of the galvanostatic oscillation on the applied potential and the ethanol concentration has been reported. Copyright (C) 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.